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Jaswant Singh was the first person to have served as India’s finance minister (1996, 2002-2004), foreign minister (1998-2004), and defense minister (2000-2001). While in office, he launched the first free-trade agreement (with Sri Lanka) in South Asia’s history, initiated India’s most daring diplomatic opening to Pakistan, revitalized relations with the US, and reoriented the Indian military, abandoning its Soviet-inspired doctrines and weaponry for close ties with the West. His most recent book is India at Risk: Mistakes, Misconceptions and Misadventures of Security Policy.

Instead of a protracted arms race, continued violence and ever more statements to the collapse of Syria into a great number of smaller states perhaps the reverse of all those should be considered.

As has been pointed out in this and numerous other tracts and discussions the main stumbling block to any meaningful resolution to this and other regional conflicts is the absence of any viable or acceptable alternative to what came before the crisis erupted in Syria.

Thus the current government in Syria has no pressing need to reform nor heed any serious calls to stop the violence. This is also true of the great majority of Syrians who also see no viable alternative to what came before. This in turn has kept the opposition, in numerous forms and divided agendas also unwilling to consider any other alternatives.

An opposing outcome could be created with a series of pronouncements by various groups to provide a non violent solution to the Syrian and other conflicts in the Levant. Just the announcements, without the actual follow through, could provide the concept of alternatives in a very short period of time.

The first could be something like the Gulf States offering to pay a vast sum of money to Egypt to transfer sovereignty of the Sinai to Jordan. Both Jordan and Egypt would receive perhaps in the neighborhood of $US 8 - 12 billion each for such a transaction. Again just the announcement in short order would get the regions attention. (More on why this should happen later)

Second you could have various Arab states approach the Dulaim tribe of the region to consider pushing for the transfer of sovereignty of Anbar, Salah ed-Din and Nineveh Governorates from Iraq to Jordan. Again it would be just the announcement of such considerations that would be needed in the short term.

Third. Have the Kurd Autonomous Region also consider and announce their desire to join the Kingdom of Jordan under the same Autonomous structure they enjoy today.
This would most likely lead to the addition of all other Sunni dominated Governorates in Iraq joining the process.

Fourth. Have a joint announcement that if the intended uniting regions to rename the new country something along the lines of The Hashemite Kingdom of Syriaq. The capital to be in Amman.

Fifth. Announcement by all parties involved to welcome both Shia Iraq, all of Syria, Lebanon and negotiated Palestine to join the new united nation.

Sixth. Make the announcement clear on a few non negotiable basis for such a united new country.
1. It is to be a Hashemite Kingdom.
2. The Syrian Army is to remain virtually intact and fully operational if Syria votes to join.
3. The Russians are invited to stay for an indefinite period.
4. The rights of all minorities will be respected and have equal standing and rights under the law.

It is my feeling that it would indeed be actually the Palestinians who would provide the early and much needed "common heart" to such a Syriaq nation.

It would also be the original idea of transferring the Sinai sovereignty from Egypt to Jordan that would set the tone and the mechanisms for a newly united Syriaq.

Much of the people of the Sinai are more closely related to the Jordanians and Palestinians than Egyptians. But in such a transfer all people of the Sinai could remain Egyptian citizens and have the right to live and own property in the Sinai for as long as they wished. Egypt would still own the energy fields in the Sinai. In all cases it would just be that sovereignty and tax revenue would now go to Amman and not Cairo.

Egypt would get a great cash infusion and loose a great distraction of the Sinai when so many other more pressing and long term issues need greater attention.

It is my belief that the Jordanians would recognize that having Amman be the capital of a nation of between 40 and 70 million people would provide the greater Jordanian area with the first very stable source of continuous economic benefit literally since they became a nation. It would also mean that the decades of continuous flow of refugees from neighboring countries might finally come to a peaceful and prosperous end. As virtually all the regional neighbors have had sizable refugee populations in the upper Jordanian region at one time or another over the decades, the idea of Amman and the central capital should not be that much of a problem.

The transition would also mean that only Jordan and Israel border the Palestinian Territories. While the Palestinians might not readily accept the idea of a united Jordan/Palestine I think that they might be more inclined to accept the idea of becoming part of a much larger Syriaq.

At each of the following steps, if each one was indeed the last and not followed by the others it would still be a positive progression. However if a combined Sinai, Jordan and Sunni/Kurdish Iraq were to become a viable nation then the addition of all other parties would be a much easier and understandable alternative than the alternatives being presented by anyone, anywhere at this time.

It would also mean that it would be a completely Arab solution based upon advancing peaceful unity instead of fighting armies. The only outside factor would be the Russian presence and those of many of the Islamist factions in the Levant.

A united Syriaq with an intact Syrian/Syriaq Army could be refocused to expel all those Islamist's not citizens of the region. The citizen Islamist's would be invited to stay as long as they renounced violence.

What it takes to have a peaceful, long term uniting solution to the present Levant crisis is true leadership, a clear and focused goal of what a united Syriaq should entail and the agreement by all that it can be achieved in a manner that counters violence.

Syria was certainly not a paradise but it was a safe, civilised country where ordinary people could live in peace. It has been transformed into a hell for the benefit of thieves. History will not be kind to those who have stirred this pot.

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